Apparatus for aiding the hearing.



E. W. SCHNEIDER, DECD.

E. c. SCHNEIDER, EXECUTRIX.

APPARATUS FOR AIDING THE HEARING.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3, I915- Patented July 25, 1916.

. STATES EUGENE W.'SCHNEIDER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.; ELIZABETH CATHERINE SCHNEIDER EXECUTRIX F SAID EUGENE W. SCHNEIDER, DECEASED.

APPARATUS FOR AIDING THE HEARING.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, EUGENE. W. SCHNEI- DER, a citizen of the United States, residing at. New York, in the county of Queens and State ofNew York, have inventedv certain new and useful Improvere-translatedinto sound-waves by the re-' Inasmuch as" the amplitude of the sound-waves produced by the receiver, in-other words, the loudness ments in Apparatus for Aiding the Hearing, of which the following is a full, clear,

I and exact description.

This invention relatesto telephonic de vices for aiding the sense of hearing, sald devices consisting, in general, of a telef phonic transmitter and a receiver connected therewith, the first receiving. the

sound-waves "and translating the same into current-pulsations 1n the c1rcu1t,'wh1ch are ceiver at the ear of the user.

of the sound issuing from the receiver, de-

, pends upon the strength of the current, it

- impossible for the user to know in advance how much resistance should be thrown into or cutout of the circuit to give the best results, the customary practice is to make the I necessary adjustment after the receiver is Y lever shifted by the same hand (unlessthe receiver is held to the ear by a head-band),

j loud and startling clickproduced each time applied to the ear. This method, however,

leaves much to be desired. In the first place, the receiver must-be held and the controller so that adjustment cannot be made as conveniently'or as 'expeditlou'slyas' may be desired. The worst feature, however, 1s the the lever moves off one point of the resistr wearer to hear the extraneous soundsthat 'ance and on to another,'.the sounds thus produced being often sufficient to drown all others and thus make'itimpossible for the he desired to hear.

' The object of thepresent invention is accor 'ngly to improve such (191166.

differs from thev prior devices is that the I rheostat-or variable resistance is carried by the. transmitter instead of by the receiver.

Specification of'Letters Patent.

' mitter.

Singularly enough, the f annoyingl clicks' Patented July 25-, 1916.

Application filed September 3, 1915. Serial No. 48,755.

.receiver .are greatly reduced in intensity,

and in'fact are often scarcely audible at all, when the rheostatismounted on the trans- I also make the adjusting member capable of complete rotation instead of merely a limited swingingmovement, and by this improvement it is possible for 'the user to change from the last point to the first, or vice versa, at will, without moving the adjusting member through all theintermediate steps. This i's'a feature of considerable value in practice, .as it enables the user to change instantly from maximum. to minimum, or from minimum to maximum, without passing through'a number of intermediate stepswith'their attendant clicks.

Other novel features will be made apparcut by the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, which embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawing. 7

Referring now to the drawing: Figure 1 shows the external appearance of the apparatus, the back of the transmitter and the front of the receiver being shown. 2 shows the transmitter from the front, on a larger scale, with part of the front wall of the casing broken away to disclose the inner parts. Figs. 3 and 4 are sections on lines 33'and 4-4, respectively, of Fig. 2. Fig. '5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

In the embodiment illustrated, which is the preferred but by-no means the only form that the invention may take, the transmitter 10 is provided onits back with terminals 11,

12, inthe form of sockets, fitting the termina ls 13,14 of the battery 15. r The battery terminals, in the form of split plugs, are of dlfierent size, and the transmitter termade as to give a constant polarity. Thecasing of the transmitteris composed of a box 16 and a screw-cover 17 To prevent opening of the casing by the unskilful user i the cover-1's locked on the box byapointed T e most important respect n which it.

device 18 controlled by a cam 19, Figs. 2

and 5. With the cam in the position shown,

thepoint 0f the device 18 is held out against .the contiguous threads of the cover, so. that the point will bite into the metal (preferably aluminumland so prevent further turning. The cam is controlled by a screw 20, Fig. 6, to which it is securely fastened. The head of the screw is concealed under the flexible cord 21 which connects the transmitter with the receiver 22 and which is held securely in place by the clamping strip 23. l/Vhen the strip is detached at one end and swung aside, the cam 19 can be turned by applying a screw driver to the screw 20, whereupon the spring 23, Fig. 2, retracts the pointed device or bolt18 The cover can then be unscrewed and replaced with ease.

Inside the transmitter casing and fastened to, but insulated from, the back thereof is a microphone electrode 25, in the usual form of 'a carbon disk having pockets containing globular carbon in contact with the vibratory diaphragm 26. At the rear this electrode is connected by a terminal27 to one of the conductors of the cord 21, the other conductor being connected to the terminal 28, which, like the electrode 25 and its terminal 27, is insulated from the casing. Inside the casing the terminal 28 is connected by a strip 29 to one of the contact points 30 of the rheostat or variable resistance (hereinafter described). The opposite end of the resistance coil 31 is connected by the Wire 32 to a strip 33 which is itself in electrical connection With the outer terminal 11,the latter being insulated from the casing while the outer terminal 12 is in connection therewith. It will therefore be seen that the path of the current, beginning, for instance, at terminal 14, is through terminal 12, casing 16, diaphragm 26, microphone electrode 25, to the receiver 22 and back through the cord 21 to terminal. 28 and strip 29, thence through the coil 31 (or part of the same), strip 33 and terminal 11 to the battery terminal 13.

The resistance coil 31 is rigidly mounted in any convenient manner on an insulating plate 34 fastened securely in the back of the transmitter casing and supporting the points 30, arranged in circular fashion around the coil. These points are conveniently composed of small brass nails fitted tightly in the plate 34 with their heads outside, and are connected at their inner ends to taps so brought out from the coil as to divide the latter into parts, preferably equal. Extending outwardly from the strip 33 at the center of the series of points 30 is a fixed standard in the form of a bolt 35, having a nut 36' by which it is held in place. Fixed tothe'head, outside the casing, is a pointer 37, and under the pointer is a hollow rotatable finger piece or button 38, preferably graduated as shown. Inside the fin.-

ger piece is a spring terminal 39 having a central aperture through which the bolt 35 extends. One end of the terminal 39 is fixed to the side of the button and the other end is free..to bear with spring pressure on the points 30; the terminal serving also to press the button snugly against the pointer 37 and thus hold the button in place without the necessity of carefully fitting the edge thereof to the plate 31. If desired, the end of the terminal which bears on the points 30 can be given a shallow groove to engage the rounded points, thus holding the terminal yielding on the point on which it happens to be resting. The finger button and terminal are, however, easily turned in either direction to cut resistance into or out of the circuit and thereby decrease or increase the loudness of the sound delivered by the receiver.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the structure herein specifically illustrated and described but can be embodied in other forms without departure from its spirit and scope.

I claim:

1. A telephonic apparatus to aid the hear ing, comprising a transmitter having a casing, the said transmitter being provided with a resistance inside of its casing, a circular series of contact points connected with the resistance, a rotatable terminal adapted to engage any one of the points, a rotatable finger-piece outside the transmitter casing to rotate the said terminal, and a scale and I pointer to indicatethe point on which the terminal rests, the said scale and rotatable finger piece being adapted to cover and prevent tampering with the contact devices.

2. In a telephonic apparatus for aiding the hearing, the combination with a transmitter having a casing, of a resistance arranged inside the transmitter casing and having a terminal in circuit with the transmitter, a circular series of contact points carried by the transmitter casing and electrically connected with the resistance, a fingerpiece rotatably mounted on the casing outside the same, and-a terminal rotatable by said finger-piece in engagement with said contact points and electrically connected in circuit with the transmitter, said contacts and rotatable terminal being covered by the aforesaid finger-piece.

3. In a telephonic apparatus for aiding the hearing, the combination of a transmitter having a circuit and a casing forming part of said circuit, an insulating plate mounted in the back wall of the casing, a resistance mounted on the plate inside the casing and having a terminal in sald circult, a, circular series of contactpoints connected to different points of the resistance and carried by said insulating plate, a rotatable finger button carried by the plate outside of the transmitter casing, a rotatable terminal actuated by said button and -cooperating with said contact-points, and an electrical connection between the rotatable terminal and said circuit.

4. In a telephonic apparatus for aiding the hearing, the combination of a transmit ter having a conducting casing, a plate of insulating material set in the back wall of the casing, a resistance coil mounted on the points.

5. In a telephonic apparatus for aiding the hearing, the combination of a transmitter having a casing, a resistance mounted inside the casing, a circular series of contact points insulated from each other and extendlng through a wall of the casing and connected ,to the resistance, a post mounted on the outside of the casing at the center of said circular series of. contact points and having a head, a finger button comprising a disk rotatable on the post and having a signature.

peripheral flange extending toward the circular series of contact points outside thereof to conceal the same, and a spring terminal carried by the finger button to engage the contact points and press the finger button outwardly against the head of said post.

6. In a telephonic device for aiding the hearing, in combination with a transmitter having a conducting casing; a plate of insulating material set in the back wall of the casing; a resistance coil mounted thereon within the casing; a series of contact devices surrounding thecoil and extending through the insulating plate, each of said contacts having a tap connected with the coil, said contacts being arranged in a circle; a finger button concentric with the said contacts and rotatably mounted on the sald insulating plate, and a conducting terminal carried by and rotated by the finger button and adapted to engage the contact points, said circular arrangement of contact points permitting the conducting terminal to be shifted directly from the first contact to the last without passing over the intermediate contacts substantially for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I. hereunto afiix my EUGENE w. SCHNEIDER. 

